Motherhood
by queermageddon
Summary: Five firsts for Skye and one first for Melinda. Fluff!


**Prompt for Anonymous** **:** **can I prompt more of mamma!may and kid!skye? Your last one was sweet! Whatever you feel like writing.**

* * *

 _ **The First Hissy Fit**_

The first hissy fit Skye threw was in the middle of Walmart when she was four. It was supposed to be a simple trip, but everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. First, Phil got called into work for an emergency meeting which left Melinda with Skye. Normally that wouldn't be a problem, but Skye was taking her nap and Melinda didn't have the time to wait for her to wake up. Her parents would be landing in 2 hours and everything was planned to give her just enough time to get the groceries they would need for supper, drop them off at home, and pick up her parents at the airport. So in the end, Melinda had to wake Skye up.

She huffed and puffed and glared out the window the entire ride to the store. That child did not like being woken up from her nap. In addition to her tired child, it seemed like every single person in the town was at Walmart stocking up on stuff like it was the end of the world. Melinda tried to fly through the aisles as fast as possible, but that became very hard very quick when she kept running into idiots that were just standing there talking.

She tried to remain calm for Skye, who was somewhat content in the buggy, but she honestly didn't have time for this shit. "It's called a walkway for a reason," she snapped. "Move."

Her patience was quickly wearing thin, but after what seemed like eternity, she was finally done grabbing what she needed and on her way to the register. She stopped for only a moment when her phone rang. She answered it to tell Phil they were done and heading to the check-out. She took her eyes of Skye for seconds, but somehow her four year old monkey of a daughter had managed to climb out the buggy-unnoticed- and went into the aisle they were next too.

It was just Melinda's luck that it was a toy aisle. "I'll call you back Phil." She hung up without another word and turned into the toy aisle with a groan.

"Look mama!" Skye said excitedly as she held up a toy computer.

Melinda kneeled in front of her. "It's nice honey," she said gently.

"Can we get it? Please, please, please, please, pleaseeeeeeee," Skye had the computer tucked under her arms and her hands clasped together in front of her.

"Not today honey. Put it up and let's go. We have to go meet grandma and grandpa at the airport. You'll get to see the big planes." Melinda was hoping that would be enough. It wasn't. Of course it wasn't. Nothing could be that easy.

"No." Skye said firmly. She gripped the computer to her chest and took a step back.

"Skye," Melinda warned.

"No!" She said louder. "I want it." She stomped her foot dramatically.

"This isn't up for a debate. I said no. That's final. Now put it up." Skye made no movement to put the computer up, so Melinda stepped forward and took it from her gently. "You do not always get your way Skye. Now I said no and I meant it." Melinda turned and set the computer on one of the higher shelves and that's when she heard it.

It was a loud pitch scream followed by "I want it! I want it! I want it!" She turned to see Skye flailed out on the floor kicking her legs and swinging her arms like her life depended on it. Melinda let out a frustrated sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose.

She left Walmart with the groceries needed to make her parents supper, a toy computer, a happy four year old, and a promise to herself. She would never bring Skye to Walmart again.

 _ **The First Lost Tooth**_

Skye was a goofy child. That was something Melinda picked up on fairly quickly. She liked to dress herself in the most mismatched outfits possible, she danced around and sang all the time, and she could have a very animated conversation with her stuffed animals for hours. She had the brightest smile and the loudest laugh. Melinda might be biased, but she truly believed her little girl was the happiest kid on the planet.

Usually when Phil was cooking dinner and she was straightening the house from the destructiveness her 6 year old had caused that day, she could hear Skye dancing around in her room. One night in particular Skye gave her a mini heart attack. She could hear the familiar taping of Skye's feet on the floor, before it was silent, and then finally a loud thump that seemed to echo throughout the house.

Melinda dropped the hand vacuum on the floor and darted up the stairs. Phil, having also heard the thump, was hot on her heals. She busted into Skye's room without a second thought. Her eyes darted all over the place until they landed on Skye sitting in the middle of her blue fuzzy rug. She had blood dripping from her mouth and she was staring at something in her hands.

She looked up at her parents and gave them her goofy smile. Only this time, with a missing tooth. "Mommy! Daddy! I lost a tooth!" She exclaimed. She held up her tooth as proof.

Melinda shared a look with her husband and together they let out a collective sigh of relief. "Your first tooth," Melinda said fondly as she crouched next to Skye. Phil squatted next to her. "Now you're going to get a visit from the tooth fairy."

"Yay!" Skye did a little fist pump.

"How about I help you get cleaned up while daddy finishes supper and then tonight, before bed, we will put your tooth under your pillow for the tooth fairy." Melinda suggested.

Skye nodded enthusiastically before standing up and following her mother into the bathroom. Melinda was worried that Skye would have trouble eating dinner that night. Phil just so happened to cook chicken parmesan, but her goofy little girl didn't hesitate to scarf down her food.

The night was relatively quiet after the tooth incident. Skye sat on her father's lap as he read the latest Captain America book. Afterward Melinda bathed her and helped her get ready for bed before the three of them put her tooth under her pillow.

"Now remember the tooth fairy won't come if you're awake," Melinda said as she tucked Skye in.

"But how does he know?" Skye asked. She looked at both of her parents sitting on either side of her.

"He has special senses," Phil explained. "In his whiskers." He tickled her cheeks teasingly. She giggled and squirmed. Phil pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Goodnight angel eyes. I love you."

"Night daddy. Love you too."

Melinda tenderly pushed the strands of hair out of her face. "Mama," Skye said quietly.

"What baby?"

"Will the tooth fairy hurt me?" she whispered so quietly that Melinda almost missed it.

"Oh baby. No, he won't. He's just going to take your tooth and leave you a present." Skye didn't look convinced.

"But how do you know? You and daddy will be asleep too."

"You've seem mommy fight. Do you really think the tooth fairy is brave enough to take you?" Skye shook her head 'no.' "Nothing will ever happen to you."

Skye held up her pinky. "Pinky promise."

Melinda wrapped her pinky around Skye's. "I pinky promise. Now get some sleep baby girl."

"I love you mama."

"I love you too." Melinda kissed her forehead, turned off her bedside light, and slipped out of the room.

The next morning, when Skye woke up, she had a dollar under her pillow.

 _ **The First Nightmare**_

It was a quiet whimpering that woke her. Phil was still sound asleep when she slipped out of their bed and down the hall towards the source of the noise. Skye's door was cracked, as usual, and the soft glow of her blue nightlight illuminated the doorway. When she popped her head into the doorway, her heart broke a little at the sight.

Her little girl was tangled in her sheets, tossing and turning. She let out another pained whimper spurring Melinda into action. She sat on the edge of Skye's bed and began wiping the damp hair out of her baby's face. Even in the dimly lit room she could see the tear streaks on Skye's soft cheeks.

"Skye," she whispered soothingly. "Wake up baby. You're having a nightmare."

"Mama," Skye cried before tossing and turning some more. Her small hand reached out to the air, grasping at nothing.

"I'm right here baby. Just open your eyes." Melinda pulled Skye into her arms and began rocking her. "I'm right here."

The movement caused Skye to wake up. Her big, brown eyes stared up at her mother. They were filled with tears and despair and left a gut wrenching feeling inside of Melinda. "You were gone mama," Skye sobbed. She gripped her mother's shirt and buried her face in Melinda's chest.

"Shhhh I'm right here baby," She consoled. "And I'm not going anywhere." She continued to rock Skye, humming gently as her little girl's sobs turned into whimpers.

"Everything alright?" Phil asked tiredly from the doorway. He looked half asleep and his usually kept hair was all over the place.

"Yes," Melinda smiled tenderly at him. "Just a nightmare."

"Do you need me to do the thing?" Melinda thought for a moment before nodding.

"Thank you." She looked from Phil to Skye, who was now staring at her quietly with her thumb in her mouth. Normally, Melinda would get onto her-she was way too old for thumb sucking-but she'd let it slide for now.

She heard Phil's soft footsteps move down the stairs and to the kitchen. Her attention moved back to Skye when she heard the three year old mumble something around her thumb. "What was that baby?"

"M'sorry," Skye mumbled again.

"What are you sorry for sweetheart?"

"M'stupid. Stupid cry baby." She looked away in shame.

Melinda maneuvered Skye to where she was face to face with her. "I don't ever want to hear you say that again." She stated as calm as possible. "You are _not_ a cry baby and you are most certainly _not_ stupid. Okay?"

When Skye simple nodded unconvincingly, Melinda tried again. "No. I want to hear you say it."

"I'm not a cry baby and I'm not stupid," she looked down at her tiny bare feet.

Melinda pulled her back to her chest. "You just had a nightmare baby. It is okay to cry and it's okay to be scared. That doesn't make you a baby or weak. Everyone has them."

Skye looked at her mother then. "Really?" she asked a little livelier.

"Absolutely. In fact, when I was a kid, I suffered from severe night terrors. But my mother eventually found something to help me sleep peacefully."

Right on cue Phil knocked on the doorframe. "It's ready." He smiled at his two girls. Melinda stood up with Skye in her arms and the three of them made their way down stairs. Melinda grabbed Skye's sippy cup off the counter and handed it to her.

"It is warm milk and honey," she explained as Skye immediately began drinking the concoction. "It's guaranteed to chase away all bad dreams."

Phil wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed their daughter on the head. The two of them held Skye in a safe embrace as she drank the milk and honey.

By the time she was finished, she was already close to unconsciousness. They turned off the lights in the kitchen and brought Skye back upstairs. Together they changed her into dry pajamas and placed her in the middle of their bed. Skye slept soundly for the rest of the night, safe and secure in the middle of her parents.

 _ **The First Wedding**_

Melinda knew. From the moment Skye came inside from playing with her friends, she knew. Her little girl was skipping happily with a dreamy smile plastered on her, a bouquet of freshly picked-slightly smashed-flowers in her hand, and a gumball machine ring on her finger.

She couldn't help but swear under her breath to skies above because dammit she was supposed to have 10 years until she had to deal with this.

"Mommy! Look!" Skye stuck her small hand up, showing off her "engagement ring" –which was on the wrong finger but Melinda wasn't going to say anything.

"Oh wow!" Melinda said in mock enthusiasm.

"Yep!" Skye said proudly. "I'm an engaged woman." Melinda smiled fondly at her silly little seven year old.

"Want me to put your flowers into water?" Skye nodded excitedly. "So who is the boy?"

"Grant Ward," she said a matter-of-factly. Melinda scoffed. She should have known. Skye and Grant had been attached by the hip since the moment they met. Grant moved into the neighborhood a couple of years ago with his adoptive parents. He was a good kid that survived a bad situation.

When she first met Grant he was very withdrawn like most kids who've experienced a trauma. Skye never let that get in the way. From the very beginning she was seeking him out, pushing him just enough to get him out of his shell and it worked. So yeah, Melinda should have known it was him.

Before she could continue the conversation, Phil arrived home from work. "Mel?" he called.

"In the kitchen!" Phil appeared a second later with a smile on his face.

"Daddy!" Skye squealed. She ran and jumped into her father's arms. He caught her immediately and spun her around. Skye let out a giggle and kissed her father's cheek. "Look!" she showed him her ring. "I'm engaged!"

Melinda couldn't help but laugh at how fast the smile fell from her husband's face. He looked at her helplessly. "She's engaged to Grant." She explained.

"Oh…" he said lamely. "Yay!"

"Uh huh! We're going to get married on Saturday. "You'll walk me down the aisle right daddy?"

Phil's face melted. "I wouldn't miss it for the world angel eyes."

Skye wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. Melinda smiled softly at her husband and daughter. "Guess I have a wedding to plan," she mumbled to herself.

That weekend, in the Coulson's backyard, Skye Coulson married Grant Ward in a very short ceremony. Phil walked Skye down the aisle and Melinda swore she saw tears in his eyes. There was no kiss-neither one of the 7 year olds wanted to catch "cooties" after all- instead there were two 'I dos' and a lot of running an screaming.

What Melinda didn't know at that moment was that on that exact day, 15 years into the future, there would be a very real wedding between the two. And during that she was positive Phil cried. But then, that was a completely different story.

 **The First Show and Tell**

When Melinda showed up at Skye's school at five minutes till ten on a Wednesday morning she had no idea what to expect. She bypassed the office with a friendly wave and made her way down the familiar corridor towards Skye's classroom. When she received a letter on Friday requesting she be at the school, she immediately asked Skye what it was all about it but her little girl remained tight lipped.

She wasn't worried that Skye was in trouble. Skye was very well behaved and no she wasn't just saying that biasedly. She's never had a single behavior problem with Skye other than the occasional tantrum when she was younger.

When she neared the door of Mrs. Johnson's classroom, she slowed her pace. She knocked softly and waited until the teacher waved her in before she entered. Her eyes immediately sought out her daughter. She was sitting in her assigned seat smiling brightly at her mother.

"Mrs. Coulson welcome!" Mrs. Johnson, or Jiaying as she insisted all of her student's parents, greeted enthusiastically.

"Thank you," Melinda replied politely. "Although I'm not sure why I'm here. Skye wouldn't tell my anything."

Jiaying smiled fondly at Skye. "I believe she wanted to surprise you. Skye."

Skye stood up and walked to the class room. She gripped her mother's hand and turned to the class. "For my show and tell I brought my mommy." Melinda's heart jumped into her throat and she could feel tears begin to prickle her eyes. "My mommy is my hero. She's the strongest person I know. She has a black belt in Karate! She owns a gym where she teaches Karate on a weekly basis as well as something called Tai Chi. I don't know what that is. My mommy says it helps you calm yourself and focus on control, but it looks like weird slow dancing to him."

The kids all laughed. Melinda would have too, if she wasn't too busy trying to keep herself from wrapping her sweet, little girl up in her arms.

"My mommy is the BEST at chasing nightmares away. She gives me cuddles and warm milk with honey. She can't cook very well, that's my dad's job, but she does my really good ice cream Sundays with extra, extra chocolate sauce! I know I could have brought something from my room, something material like my favorite toy, but the truth is that what my favorite things are right now are bound to change as the years go by. My mommy will always be my hero."

And that was Melinda's undoing. She choked out a sobbed as kneeled down and pulled Skye into a tight hug. Skye returned the hug with vigor. She heard the kids clapping, but she paid them no mind. She was too focused and her little girl. Her entire world.

"I love you baby girl."

"I love you too mommy."

After Skye's show and tell, Melinda checked her daughter out of school-so what if she missed half of one day, she was a smart kid-and took her home where they spent the entire day snuggled on the couch.

 _ **The First Breakdown**_

Melinda was a very intuitive person. She prided herself on that. It made it hard for the people around her to catch her off guard or to sneak things under her nose. It drove everyone crazy, but she was very happy with her little super power. It definitely came in handy when she was in school. 9 times out of 10 she could walk into a classroom and know instantly if there was a surprise pop quiz. It always baffled the professors how the entire class knew about the surprise pop quiz before they even entered the classroom. Yeah, Melinda had amazing intuition.

There was one downside to her supernatural level instinct. Sometimes she couldn't figure out what was causing that twitch in her gut and she would drive herself crazy trying to figure it out. One Monday morning her gut was twitching like crazy. It twitched during her daily Tai Chi exercise, it twitched as she showered and got ready for the day, and it continued to twitch as she got Skye up and helped her through her morning routine. It was bugging the shit out of her.

"What's wrong?" Melinda looked up from the mug of now warm tea to her husband. He was standing at the stove scrambling eggs. "You're awfully quiet."

She shrugged and forced a smile onto her face. "Just thinking." She looked at Skye-who was also unusually quiet this morning- and notice that she wasn't eating. She was just pushing her food around her plate. "Baby you need to eat."

"M'not hungry," she muttered tiredly.

"At least try. For me. Please."

Skye only managed to eat a fourth of her breakfast, but it was still better than nothing. The rest of the day was uneventful. Melinda kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, but nothing happened. Her day went on like normal. Skye arrived home at the usual time-albeit less perky as usual but Melinda just chalked it up to tiredness. When Phil returned home he began cooking dinner. The three of them ate. Melinda bathed Skye while Phil cleaned up and the two of them tucked her into bed.

Everything seemed normal. Or so she thought. She wasn't sure what woke her up, but suddenly her eyes were open and she was out of bed heading towards Skye's room. The twitching in her gut grew stronger the closer she got. She pushed the door open.

Skye was sitting on the edge of her bed with her arms wrapped around her torso. She looked up at her mother. She was pale and covered in sweat. "Mommy I don't feel good." Before Melinda could react, Skye turned forward and threw up.

Melinda rushed over to Skye and picked her up. She brought her to the bathroom and flipped on the light. Skye's skin was hot and clammy against her own. She set her on the counter, grabbed a wash cloth, wet it, and put it on her forehead. "Hold this baby." Skye weakly replaced her mother's hand on the wash cloth as Melinda grabbed a thermometer out of one of the bathroom draw and put it under Skye's tongue.

"What's wrong?" Phil asked tired and panicked.

"Skye's sick. She threw up in her room. Can you?"

"Already on it."

The thermometer beeped. When she checked it, she felt her stomach churn. Skye had a temperature of 105. "Shit," Melinda swore.

"Mommy I don't feel good," Skye cried.

"I know baby. I know. Phil!" She screamed. Her heart was pounding and she was shaking with fear. She grabbed Skye and clutched her to her chest.

Phil appeared in the door way. "Her fever is 105. We need to take her to the hospital."

"I'll get the car keys." He sounded just as panicked as she felt. Melinda wasn't even sure they locked the front door when they let.

They loaded their daughter into the car and took off toward the hospital. Phil was driving like a mad man-she couldn't blame him, she'd be doing the same- and Melinda stayed in the back seat with Skye, who was close to losing consciousness.

Melinda was pretty sure they parked in a no parking zone, but she didn't care. She grabbed her daughter and ran full speed into the emergency room. "Someone help!" she cried. She could feel Phil appear next to her, probably looking half crazed.

A doctor immediately ran up to them. "What's wrong?" She asked.

"My daughter! She has a fever of 105 and she threw up. Please help her," she sobbed. The doctor took her and set her on the closest gurney.

The fearful parents stood by and watched as doctors and nurses surrounded their daughter. Melinda clasped her hands over her mouth to stifle her sobs. Phil wrapped his arms around her and held her shaking body close.

All she could hear were the erratic beeping of the machines hooked to her baby. Her eyes widened as she watched Skye begin to convulse. She was turned on her side as foam began to come out of her mouth.

"What's happening?" Melinda screamed. She took a step forward but was immediately stopped.

"Ma'am I know you're worried, but I promise you we will take care of her. For now I need you to go wait in the waiting room." When they didn't move, the nurse added "please." The last thing Melinda saw, before Phil pulled her out of the ER, was the doctors rolling her baby girl away. She felt her heart shatter as the helplessness set it.

The waiting room was freezing, the chairs were stiff and uncomfortable, and the plain white walls that surrounded the room had Melinda feeling like she was stuck in a mental hospital. She and Phil were facing the entrance of the emergency room, their hands tightly clasped together, as they waited for any news on Skye.

Melinda stopped counting the hours after the third one passed. Instead, she sat motionless, glaring at the entrance with a migraine from hell and the urge to throw up herself.

"What if-" she began but was quickly cut off by Phil.

"Don't. Don't say it. Don't even think it." He sounded almost pleading.

"I'm sorry," she deflated. "Why haven't they come to update us? Not knowing is killing me."

"I know Mel. Me too." He wrapped his arm around her and she rested her head on his shoulder. Her fingers felt frozen, her chest felt heavy, her brain was foggy, but most noticeably, she felt empty. Why was this happening? Her sweet baby girl never harmed a fly. She was so full of light and love. Melinda didn't know what she'd do if she lost her.

She tried to keep her mind clear of those thoughts, but she couldn't help but fear the worst with every hour that passed. She closed her eyes and tried to go back. Back to before Skye was sick. Back to when she was a happy little girl that just wanted cuddles. She didn't want to be in this horrible place. She didn't want her baby in this horrible place.

Before she became a mother, Melinda believed that the worst feeling in the world was losing control of her emotions. It was something that didn't happen but when it did, she hated it. Now, the worst feeling in the world was helplessness. Her little girl was sick and she couldn't do anything. She was supposed to protect her. She _promised_ she'd never let anything happen to her. And now all she could do, when her baby needed her the most, was glare at the waiting room doors.

"Mel," Phil's soft voice pulled her out of her thought. She opened her eyes and sat up as soon as she saw the doctor heading toward them. She felt a small tug of relief but she ignored it.

"Mr. and Mrs. Coulson, I'm Dr. Burn. I've been treating your daughter."

"How is she?" Melinda demanded as she stood up. Phil followed.

"She's doing better," she said gently. "Skye has the flu. It's a moderate case, but since she's so little and her fever was so high, it caused a seizure. We've managed to break her fever. She's sleeping now. Once she wakes up, we plan to run some test just to make sure the seizure didn't cause any residual damage." Dr. Burn explained calmly.

Melinda let out the breath she was holding and allowed herself to release all the stress she was holding. They weren't out of the woods yet, but they were getting there.

"Can we see her?" Phil asked after a moment.

"Of course," Dr. Burn said. "We put her in her own room in the children's ward. We have cots available if you'd like to stay with her." Without hesitation they both said yes. "Okay, well follow me."

The doctor disappeared once they reached the room with the promise to be back with cots. Melinda went to one side of Skye's bed and Phil went to other side.

"I never really notice how tiny she was," she said absentmindedly. "She's tiny for her age."

"Yeah," Phil whispered. He cupped her face and ran his thumb over her cheek bone. "My little angel eyes."

Melinda was drowning in exhaustion but she didn't want to go to sleep. She didn't want to take her eyes off of Skye. Her sweet, beautiful little girl. She was covered in wires and it hurt Melinda to look at the state she was in. She held her small, vulnerable hand tightly.

It was only at the insistent of her husband that she laid down on the cot. Her eyes remained on Skye and her hand never let go of Skye's. Slowly-and mostly against her will-she drifted off to sleep with dreams of her happy little girl.

Skye was unconscious for the majority of the next three days. Phil would leave for work in the morning and return in the evening, normally with food or clean clothes. Melinda only left when there was an emergency at the gym, but other than that, she was constantly by Skye's side.

It was on the evening of the third night that Melinda was finally able to breathe. Phil was on his way back to the hospital. She had stepped out to grab a cup of coffee. She had only been gone for a three minutes. When she returned, Dr. Burn was stepping out of Skye's room with a smile on her face.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Absolutely nothing." Dr. Burn nodded toward Skye's room.

When she stepped in the room she let out a joyful cry. Skye was awake and sitting up in bed with her bright, goofy smile.

"Mommy!" she squealed.

"Oh baby," she set her coffee down and sat down next to Skye. She wrapped her baby in her arms and held her close. "Don't ever do that to me again."

"I won't mommy. I'm sorry." Skye nuzzled her face against the skin of Melinda's neck.

"I'm so glad you're okay. I don't know what I'd do without you monkey," she whispered. "I love you."

"I love you too mommy."

She placed a gentle kiss to Skye's head and continued to hold her close. When Phil arrived a few minutes later, his reaction was similar. He threw the stuff he brought with him on the couch, kicked off of his shoes and curled into the bed with them.

That night Melinda was finally able to sleep peacefully, with Skye curled against her body and Phil gripping her hand. Before unconsciousness complete took over her, she looked at her husband and daughter and she felt her heart swell with love. This might not have been the life she imagined for herself, but she wouldn't change it for anything.

* * *

Follow me on tumblr: warriorsquake

I take prompts


End file.
